Healing is a journey. A journey, which like life, progresses through stages. Although each life and each healing path is unique, there are similarities between our experiences because of our shared humanity.

Healing is also an experience that encompasses all of who we are. Along the course of our lives (beginning in utero) we are affected by outside influences in a way that can disconnect us from our essential nature. True Healing in our experience is always multidimensional (involving body, mind, emotions and spirit) regardless of the symptoms we are focused on. In other words, the healing changes will naturally happen on many levels at once. Healing also involves a rediscovery of our essential nature and the wisdom held within, which is there for us to guide our lives.

For example, you may have back pain that seems to be due to lifting something heavy or sitting for too many hours at the computer. However, due to the interconnection of all of the parts of our lives, a portion of the underlying muscle tension there may be due to your work environment or family stress. Or you may have had difficulty responding to your body's subtle and not so subtle cues to stop what you were doing or to do it in a different way. Underlying beliefs directed by the mind can be so powerful they can override the body's ability to protect and regulate itself in a balanced harmonious way. Examples of these underlying beliefs may relate to a self-sacrificing work ethic, a feeling of time pressure that there is "not enough time", or a self-judgment of "I'm not good enough".

Healing is More Than Pain Relief

The reduction of pain is important because pain interferes with us living our lives. However, reducing or eliminating pain alone does not bring us true joy or life satisfaction it only brings us to neutral, a place of no pain. In order to go into the positive territory of increasing those qualities of experience which make life more rich, meaningful and fulfilling we believe we must change and evolve our relationship with ourselves and our world through our relationship with our bodies. This is Healing with a capital H and is what we feel is our true purpose in doing the work that we do.

The Metamorphosis of Healing

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On the physical level our bodies undergo healing changes involving muscle tension, posture, flexibility, stability, awareness and breath. Many clients share that they feel younger and more alive as their pain and stiffness subsides and their energy level, stamina and physical abilities increase.

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The Mind/Body connection refers to the fact that everything we think, feel and experience has an immediate effect on our bodies. In addition, our bodies in return influence everything we think, feel and experience. This is because we have elaborate feedback systems from the body into the brain which help to shape all our perceptions of ourselves and the world we live in.

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As a part of the healing experience there are noticeable positive changes in areas of self-image, inner clarity and adaptability to change. We also become more in sync with our own internal natural rhythms. This allows us to follow our own true path with integrity and passion.

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Beginning Care

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Beginning Care sets the stage for change. Our brain is essentially a pattern generator. A pattern is something that is repeated or continually generated automatically. We have patterns of posture, muscle tension, breathing and movement. We have patterns of speech, gesturing, thinking, perception and emotional response. Most of our patterns we learned unconsciously from past experiences and other people. The vast majority of patterns are initiated by a part of the brain that is below our conscious awareness. This is why it is so hard to change habits and other patterns. In our examination we identify patterns of posture, muscle tension, stress, inflexibility and alignment that many people are not aware of.

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This part of the process empowers you to feel and become more aware of these patterns, which is the first and an essential step to changing them. This change occurs at the levels of both the body and brain. As you become increasingly aware of your body, your breath, where you are holding tension, and what your internalized stress patterns are the natural wisdom and intelligence of your body begins to be mobilized to initiate the healing process.

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Because the brain is the main pattern generator in the body, all lasting change in the body will include changes in brain structure and function. It is now well understood that the brain will change and remodel itself in response to any repetitive stimulation or activation. This is why each healing session intentionally includes a shift in your state of consciousness involving brain wave patterns. This will be experienced by you as a profoundly deep state of relaxation, peace, letting go and inner freedom.

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Through our work together you will begin to develop strategies for releasing these patterns including spinal tension patterns, which involves a self-initiated deepening of breath, subtle movement, stretching and the generation of a “relaxation response” (the opposite of the “fight or flight” stress response). Your body will be experiencing most of these healing/releasing responses during the treatment itself. The repetition of the visits as part of our treatment plan for you allows your brain and body to establish these strategies and develop new internal harmonious patterns of self-awareness, self-correction, rebalancing and healing.

Beginning Care is approximately the first 24 visits ending with a Progress Exam. At the progress exam we measure the changes in your posture (using digital photography), your range of motion and flexibility and levels of muscle tension. We also get feedback from you as to what percentage of improvement has occurred in your symptoms and how your body awareness has changed. Many people experience between 50% to 100% resolution of their initial symptoms, during beginning care.

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As We Progress

Spinal tension often begins releasing from the pelvis, lower back and neck. As you progress there is a continued increase of flexibility into the middle and upper back. The entire rib cage, shoulders and chest become more flexible and breathing becomes even easier and deeper. There is a continued refinement of body awareness and the ability to release tension and move oneself out of the omnipresent automatic unconscious stress responses that we experience daily.

For most people, their symptoms continue to improve as they gain more insight into what needs to change in their lives to further support their healing. Therefore, true healing occurs naturally as we come to feel and trust more in our intuitive guidance coming though from the deep well of our body wisdom.

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Intermediate Care: Changes in Awareness

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The changes in awareness that develop further in Intermediate Care, involve an overall body awareness that is generally not cultivated in our culture and is unfortunately even discouraged. Most of us are taught that the rational mind is thought to rule and be the source of all of our valuable information, and our bodies’ needs and impulses need to be controlled and subservient to it. Therefore, most of us end up as adults being fairly disconnected from subtle internal sensations. These sensations involve breath, position or posture, muscle tension levels and other internal cues that give us invaluable information. This information includes what our bodies need, clarity about what we are feeling emotionally, and intuitive guidance about taking better care of ourselves. All transformational change requires awareness and is internally generated.

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It is common that as old structural and neurological patterns are being released the brain will become healthier and more coherent. As a result our clients share that they feel happier, more peaceful, relaxed, joyful, and have improved mental focus and increased creativity. These quality of life changes when combined with the physical changes makes the healing experience a very holistic and life changing one.

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When Symptoms are no Longer a Priority for Care

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At this stage the purpose of Advancing Care or Wellness Care is to further deepen and develop the experiences and internal relationships within the body/mind paradigm. The way we describe this stage is that we are entering a new way of being with ourselves, and that incudes being more compassionate with ourselves and others, following our intuitive guidance more confidently and connecting on a deeper level with our hearts.

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Clients who choose to participate in advancing care have also found the treatments very helpful in counteracting and releasing the physical and emotional effects of ongoing stress. Continued care only strengthens the healthy brain patterns you are developing making you more "stress hardy".

The frequency of visits in advancing care is determined by your lifestyle, goals and needs, to support your present and long-term health.

Congratulations! You made it to the end of this section and we really appreciate that you took the time and effort to learn more about our version of the healing journey.